Moving On
by Acathla
Summary: "I've lived in this place and I know all the faces, each one is different but they're always the same. They mean me no harm but it's time that I face it, they'll never allow me to change." Regina makes a life-altering decision. Set after season 6 and pretending season 7 never happened.


**AN: This story has been tickling at my mind for a while now. Ever since I started hearing this song more and more and thinking about Regina. This song always seemed to me like it could've been written either for or about Regina. It is called "I'm Moving On" by Rascal Flatts. This is a one-shot. Just needed to get it out of my head. Regina, OUAT, and the song don't belong to me, I am just borrowing them for some fun.**

 **P.S. Although I am a pretty die hard SwanQueen shipper, this story is all about Regina...Emma is only mentioned and not in any romantic context, sorry to SQ nation, this one just seemed to be more about Regina than anyone else. Also, it takes place after the season 6 finale and assumes that was the series finale and Hyperion Heights never happened.**

* * *

Regina Mills watched, teary-eyed, as her son Henry drove his motorcycle through the portal that would take him on his next adventure. As the portal closed, Regina felt her heart break a little bit more before she turned and walked back into her house.

Regina walked into her study and poured herself a glass of cider before sitting down on the couch in front of the fireplace. She wasn't entirely sure what to do with herself right now. Emma was on her honeymoon with…Hook, the Charmings were busy with their son Neal, and her own son was off on his new adventure. Once again, Regina was alone. Zelena was occupied with being a new mom so she wasn't exactly free to spend time with Regina anyway.

Regina took another sip of her cider before she turned on the radio to fill the silence. The beginning notes of a slow song came through the speakers and Regina leaned her head back to listen and try to forget her loneliness.

 _I've dealt with my ghosts and I've faced all my demons  
Finally content with a past I regret  
I've found you find strength in your moments of weakness  
For once I'm at peace with myself  
I've been burdened with blame, trapped in the past for too long  
I'm movin' on_

Regina's head lifted a little as she listened to the words. They seemed to fit her life so well. She could relate to the lyrics and she grinned wryly as the song continued.

 _I've lived in this place and I know all the faces  
Each one is different but they're always the same  
They mean me no harm but it's time that I face it  
They'll never allow me to change  
But I never dreamed home would end up where I don't belong  
I'm movin' on_

 _I'm movin' on_  
 _At last, I can see life has been patiently waiting for me_  
 _And I know there's no guarantees, but I'm not alone_  
 _There comes a time in everyone's life_  
 _When all you can see are the years passing by_  
 _And I have made up my mind that those days are gone_

As the song played, Regina thought about her life to this point and realized the lyrics were truer than she first assumed. She faced the ghosts and demons of her past: Daniel, when she was forced to once again kill him after Gold and Whale brought him back, her mother, first in Storybrooke and again in the underworld, her father in the underworld where he forgave her for killing him to enact the dark curse. After everything she went through, all the hard work she put in to change for the better, Regina was finally at peace with her past, despite the regrets she harbored about how she dealt with the pain she went through. The burden of blame for the curse, Emma's shitty childhood, and most of the bad things that had happened since they were all transported to this land without magic rested squarely on Regina's shoulders for so long, trapping her in a past that she wanted so desperately to forget.

Even after everything they'd all been through, after finally earning the respect of the townspeople, they still thought of her as a Queen, even if they did finally drop the Evil from the title. Regina didn't want to be a queen anymore…to be honest she had never wanted to be a queen in the first place. No, that was Cora's wish for her, not Regina's. But being the survivor that she was, Regina had adapted to the life she'd been thrust into and made the role of queen her own. Now, she was more than ready to shed that title, that life and start a new one of her own design. But, sadly, like the song said, the people of Storybrooke will never allow her to change, not truly.

Regina realized that the only way she would find her happiness now would be to leave Storybrooke and make a fresh start somewhere else. A place without her magic, without the people who knew her at her worst, without anyone or anything to remind her of who she had been for such a long time.

As the final part of the song played, Regina's plan solidified in her mind and she knew, it wouldn't be long before she took the final steps towards the new life she wanted to have, away from Storybrooke.

 _I sold what I could and packed what I couldn't  
Stopped to fill up on my way out of town  
I've loved like I should but lived like I shouldn't  
I had to lose everything to find out  
Maybe forgiveness will find me somewhere down this road  
I'm movin' on_

A week later, Regina sat in her black Mercedes at the town line and took a deep breath. Everything was in place. It had taken some time and, yes a little bit of magic, but she had managed to set up a bank account in New York in her name with a considerable amount of money in it just waiting for her to claim it. She had given the mansion to Snow and David, a gift to raise their son and any future kids in, as well as a final peace offering to Snow for all the pain she had caused the younger woman. Regina packed only what she would need: a few outfits, a couple of photo albums filled with pictures of Henry, Emma, and herself, and of course, the remaining bottles of her cider and her decanters.

She had a full tank of gas, a destination in mind, and nothing more keeping her in Storybrooke. Emma was still on her honeymoon and when she returned, Regina would be long gone and there would only be a letter of goodbye for the Savior to read before Regina became just a memory to the town. She had said her goodbyes to the people she called family and now, she just needed to put the car in gear and drive over the line to her new life.

Regina took a deep breath, looked in her rearview mirror at the road that led back into town, then shifted her eyes to the road ahead of her. She smiled as she put the car in drive and pressed down on the gas pedal. As the car cruised over the town line, Regina felt her magic drain away and it took her breath away. She hit the brakes and waited a moment for the lightheadedness to pass before she was able to continue driving.

As the miles between herself and Storybrooke increased, Regina's feeling of finally being free did as well. Hours later, Regina once again smiled as she saw the sign that read "Welcome to New York"…she was almost there. Now, the true adventure could begin and Regina welcomed whatever would happen with an open mind and light, unburdened heart. This was her new life and as she drove further into the city, she picked up a radio station as it played the final lines of the song that had started this new adventure for her. It seemed fitting now that it would play at this moment.

 _Maybe forgiveness will find me somewhere down this road  
I'm movin' on_

 _I'm movin' on_  
 _I'm movin' on_

* * *

 **AN2: There it is. Hope you enjoyed it.**


End file.
